Cerebrate, Why Do You Sing?
by NorthernHarrier
Summary: It must've been painful within the Chrysalis. Hadrianus, SubCerebrate to Araq of the Jormungand Brood is slightly worried, and does the strangest thing one would ever see a Zerg do...


**NOTE: **I do not own Starcraft, and Hadrianus was my player username when I played the Zerg Campaign, so please don't bash me for inconsistencies regarding the novels and all, I've only played the games XD

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Araq once asked me this question while I watched Kerrigan sleep within her chrysalis.

_Cerebrate, why do you sing?_

It is a strange concept, to be sure. I cannot 'sing', as the humans called it. I did not have a respiratory tract. I could not vibrate my 'vocal chords' simply because I had none.

Araq was older than me, but he was often away, so to speak. He never responded to my own psionic messages, and left my education to Daggoth and Zasz.

Not that I never appreciated my mentors. I simply… longed for a father figure, in human terms.

I had the Overmind, but he was often busy with hive matters. Daggoth had been my father, Zasz had been there to see that I did not injure myself.

But it was curious that Araq had seen fit to talk to me, in this place, while I watched over Kerrigan and sent her what he assumed to be a 'song'. She was in such pain… I-

_Cerebrate?_

… _What is this… sing?_ I sent in return, as Kerrigan stirred from her sleep and sent yet another psionic wave towards a 'Jim Raynor'. I tore my gaze away from Kerrigan's chrysalis and began to manage my Brood.

_You do not know what a song is?_ Araq sent back. He did not say, nor did he let me feel it,but I somehow knew he was amused at my attempt to 'sing'.

_I do not._ I replied. I sent my orders through my Overlord, and it rallied my Zerglings, grouping them into an area slightly northward of Kerrigan's Chrysalis.

_A song… it is what those Terran men sing._ Araq began. _They sing in battle, and in those things they call 'radio'. But the song you sing, Cerebrate… it is different. It is different in a way I cannot understand._

Araq paused in his speech. _I remember… a human boy and his mother, when we invaded a Fringe World… Somehow, your song is akin to what their own mothers sing when they were in their infancy._

I gave no reply.

Was that what it was like? My own psionic messages towards Kerrigan's tortured subconscious… song? This… song that Terrans sang to their own children was what I was sending to Kerrigan?

But Kerrigan was not mine. She was never mine. She was the Overmind's.

_You intrigue me, Cerebrate. Your behavior is highly illogical._

There was silence across our link.

I paused in my task and turned back to Kerrigan, shifting fitfully in her chrysalis. She did not seem to be relaxed. It must've hurt… to be human once and to be one of the Swarm.

It was a transformation that was painful, physically and mentally, and I was slightly horrified that one should go through it alone.

That was the reason why I began to 'sing', as Araq had put it. It was only to reduce Kerrigan's pain, to let her know someone had been watching, listening-

_So it is not necessary, Araq?_ I asked at length, hesitant. What if I was doing something wrong? What if I-

Araq stayed silent for a good long while. I had the feeling he was watching Kerrigan sleep in her chrysalis as well, for one of the Overlords fluttered close. I was about to turn back to my work, to order a drone into a Spawning Pool-

_She sleeps in pain._ Araq remarked. _The Overmind will not be pleased if his daughter expires._

I would've suppressed a smile if I had a face.

_I understand, Araq._

Araq severed our link.

I ordered the drone to become a Spawning Pool and took control of an Overlord, moving it close to Kerrigan's chrysalis.

She was in pain.

I felt for Daggoth, Zasz, and my father, the Overmind. I felt their replies; a brush of psionic energy, a little wave… all those tiny gestures we would've done if we had limbs…

I turned back to Kerrigan, and had the Overlord move closer, to reach out and stroke the chrysalis with antennae. The chrysalis began to pulse, moving rapidly, fan-like organs flaring.

_Sleep well, Kerrigan._ I began. _Sleep, be at peace, and know that I watch over you._

Kerrigan paused in her psionic messages to the Terrans she seemed to treasure and detest. For a brief moment, I had thought she had expired, for her chrysalis halted in its healthy pulse. I had reached out, using the Overlord,to inspect her chrysalis, to make sure that she was still alive-

… _I-I see…. I appreciate it._

I felt a small brush of psionic energy against my own.

What could you call it… the humans... They called this… gratitude?


End file.
